How Was I Supposed to Know?
by oh-so-Shani
Summary: Rose meets urban boy Dante and thinks she's finally found love even if he is from the wrong side of town. She just doesn't understand why everyone else is so againt them dating. OCC I tried my hardest to make the characters the same, but it's hard lol
1. Chapter 1

In this story Rose meets nice and charming Dante at a party one night. They start talking soon after and become very involved. The only problem is that he's black and lives on the bad side of town. Rose and her family have nothing against black people; they're just worried that the more she hangs out on that side of town, the more danger she will put herself in. Soon Rose starts changing; talking and acting in a way she wasn't before she met Dante. Her best friend Lissa doesn't like this change in Rose and they soon start having problems. On top of that her next door neighbor Dimitri has been acting even more strangely than normal lately and Rose has no idea why now all of a sudden he seems to dislike her. These problems with her best friend and family make her cling to Dante and his friends even more. But then something bad happens that makes Rose question everything she thought she knew.

How Was I Supposed to Know?

Chapter 1

I always knew that I was crazy. Why you ask? Oh I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I would get sucked inside my best friend's head whenever she was feeling any type of intense emotion such as fear, anger, lust, sadness, depression, excitement, ECT, ECT. You get the point. I couldn't even begin to tell you how much that freaked me out. If I thought I was crazy, I could only imagine what everyone else would think of me if they found out!

But as I sat there in the kitchen of my pretty decent sized home, staring at my mother, Janine Hathaway, from across the island, I had to wonder to myself if I truly was the crazy one in this family.

"You're making me go WHERE?" I asked her thinking that maybe, just maybe, I hadn't heard her right.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. She was used to my teenage outburst considering the fact that when it came to her and me, we could never have a decent conversation that didn't include someone getting angry and raising their voice at the other. "I said, your father and I thought that it would be best if you went to St. Vladimir starting on Monday."

"I-I-I …. But … uh…" I couldn't believe it; I was actually at a loss for words.

"Rose, stop the dramatics. This will be good for you. We should have done this years ago, but Abe said it would be good for you to live as much of a normal life as possible." She spoke while I just looked at her like she had grown two more heads. She continued, "You're 17 now and you may possibly become Vasilissa's guardian so it's about time you start training. If you start now than you will have a year and a half before graduation to become a guardian. But if you're not prepared than no one will take you seriously enough and you and Vasilissa will be separated."

A guardian? I thought to myself. I had never considered actually becoming a guardian before. I mean I guess I just kind of took it for granted that Lissa and I would be together forever.

Lissa is a Moroi, which is another term for vampire. All Moroi are given at least one guardian, more if they are a royal Moroi. Lissa's family the Dragomirs are royals. I, on the other hand, am not a Moroi. I am a Dhampir which is a half human half vampire person. And St. Vladimir is an exclusive private school for Moroi and dhampirs to train and learn about our kind. Moroi train in controlling their magic; which include earth, air, water, fire, and spirit. There are very few spirit users in the world and many probably don't even know they have spirit. Lissa is a spirit user which probably has something to do with why I keep getting sucked in her damn head for some reason. Dhampirs on the other hand have no magical powers so we just train to become stronger so we can protect the Moroi from Strigoi. Ok I know you're like "WTF! What are Strigoi?" and I don't blame you, this is a lot to take in. Strigoi are evil vampires that need to feed off of Moroi and Dhampirs, and they are immortal unless they are stabbed in the heart with a magic infused stake, burned to death, or decapitated. Sounds simple right? Think again! Strigoi are impossibly fast and strong so you need to train to learn how to kill them and St. Vlads trains their students for this.

So in reality, my parents sending me to the school made a lot of sense if I wanted a chance to protect Lissa. But in true Rose Hathaway fashion I couldn't let this go without a fight, and I could tell that my mom knew this by the way she clenched her jaw waiting for the fireworks.

"But you guys can't just send me away to some new school in the middle of my junior year!" Ok, technically they weren't sending my away. St. Vlads was only 20 minutes away from my sub-division and it only offered boarding to those students whose family didn't live in the state or if the student and their parents felt safer with them living at the school since the school was protected by a magical ward that kept out the Strigoi. So I would be coming home every afternoon at 4. "I'll miss out on everything that all my friends are doing." Not particularly true considering the fact that Lissa and I are the most popular girls at our school so I would most likely be updated on every juicy gossipy thing that happened. "I won't know anyone there." Also not true. I'm Rose Hathaway; I know everybody. "I'll miss out on prom and graduation with my friends that I grew up with, and worst of all Lissa won't be there!" That last part almost made me cry. Lissa is like my female soul mate, the little sister I never had. I was Bonnie and she was Bonnie's little sister Clydetta, or something like that. Not spending senior year together would royally suck. We had made big plans to take over our school senior year and leave our marks on history.

My argument sucked and my mother knew it. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes "You can always see your friends after school, and I'm sure you will be invited to Hornet High's prom by someone," she rolled her eyes again. My parents knew how popular I was at my human high school. I was always invited to every party and spent hours on the house phone in the den every night since they wouldn't buy me a cell phone until I got a job. Yea that sucked. "And as for graduation I'm sorry, but the school won't be that bad. And once you have been there for a year you'll know as many people there as you do at school now. And beside Lissa and Christian both are going to be there. In fact Christian already goes there so I don't know why you said you wouldn't know anyone there."

This was true considering Christian is my brother through adoption. My mother and father Abe decided to adopt Christian after his parents had gone Strigoi and then were killed by guardians. No one else wanted him for fear that he would follow in their footsteps, but my parents saw good in him and decided to take him in. At first I didn't trust him and we hated each other, but after 7 years we're actually pretty close. While I thought about what she sad, I realized I had missed a very important part. "Wait! Lissa is going to be going there with me?

It was Janie's turn to look at my weirdly. "Yes, that's what I said. Actually Lissa suggested going when she heard that we would be sending you there and her parents agreed."

Upon hearing this, my heart leapt with joy. Lissa was the best friend ever! She was always looking out for me like I did for her, and I couldn't love her anymore for that. The more I thought about it, the more I became used to the idea of going to St. Vlads. I did want to become one of the best guardians like my mother, and I would do whatever it took to keep Lissa safe; even Christian and all his sarcastic gloominess. With Lissa and Christian being there it couldn't be that bad. Right?

"When would we start?" I asked

"On Monday." Today was Wednesday so that gave me enough time to say Goodbye to all my friends at Hornet High.

With that I looked at my mother and gave her my answer, not like I really had an option anyways. "Ok, I'll do it." My mother only nodded and left me alone in the kitchen.

A.N: Soooo, this is my first story I've ever posted. I hope you guys like it, and please review and leave me positive and critical comments! =) p.s I need a beta so if you're interested let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After that conversation with my mother I figured I would go over Lissa's and talk to her about changing schools.

I grabbed a banana from the counter and headed next door to Lissa's house. The sun was close to setting and the breeze made the April air feel so good against my tan skin. Little kids played in their yards and some raced on bikes in the street. My neighborhood consisted of very wealthy Moroi and their guardians. Most were royals and a few weren't. I only lived here because Abe was very wealthy and promised only the best for my mother and me. In reality I was a very lucky Dhampir. My mom was his guardian so it all worked out. Abe and my mom moved here a year before I was born next door to Lissa's parents. I was born March 28th and Lissa was born September 28th. It wasn't until kindergarten when Lissa and I became inseparable.

I stepped into my yard and saw some of my friends from school.

"Hey Rose!" they all said. I waved at them.

There was six girls altogether. Three were Moroi and three were dhampirs. Most of the girls went to my human school and two of the Moroi went to St. Vladimir. One was Lissa's cousin Natalie; another royal. I had almost forgotten that she went to St. Vlads.

Natalie spoke up and invited me to join them on their walk around the subdivision. I declined telling them I had something to do. Which was true; I had to talk to Lissa. They all moaned but continued walking.

Not even seconds after they had past my house I heard them giggling. "Hi Guardian Belikov!" they all sang in unison. I looked to my left and saw my other next door neighbor, Dimitri Belikov, outside wiping his hands on a towel. He was working on his Black 2010 Audi TT, and he was dirty and sweaty.

He politely nodded at my friends and looked back at his car. The girls giggled again and rushed past his house.

I could definitely understand why my friends acted like giggling school girls around him. Well for one they were giggling school girls…, and two Dimitri was really hot. The fact that his muscles bulged underneath his t-shirt every time he moved, and that he was hot and sweaty only made him more attractive. Dimitri had moved on the other side of me 4 years ago when I was only 13 and he was almost 20. He had just gotten a new job out here and I guess they bought a house for him so he could be closer to the job. He was very quiet, reserved and very scary.

Over the years he had become a very well respected guardian due to the number of Strigoi he killed. He was almost as famous as my mother. Sometimes he would say hello to me, or he would ask me about school whenever he came over to fix something that Abe had broken. He would always do it for free so my mom would send me over to his house with some kind of pastry.

The first time I showed up at his door un-announced was last year. When he opened the door he was shocked at first but then he actually smiled at me. Two emotions I had never seen from him before. At the time I had just turned 16 and my body was starting to fill out and EVERYONE noticed. Except for Dimitri; that is until I handed him the plate of brownies I had been holding in front of my body as a shield. At the time I was very self conscious of my newly curvy body, so when I noticed Dimitri checking me out I blushed and tossed my hair over my face so he wouldn't see. I mumbled something about my mother needing help then left hurriedly.

I almost laughed at how self conscious I had been back then. Now I loved the attention guys showed me. It was fun, fun until they got too touchy. I didn't like guys being to grabby or possessive of me, it was a big turn off for me. A lot of guys thought that they could get in my pants and that pissed me off too. I was a virgin and I planned on staying one. That was one thing that both Lissa and I were proud of. We weren't like most girls, and although we liked to party hard and get wild we weren't easy.

I remember one night a couple of weeks ago I had come home late from a party with Lissa and tried to sneak in the back door. Luckily for me Dimitri was outside staring at the stars. With his guardian instincts he heard me and his head snapped in my direction.

"Rose?" he asked making sure that it was indeed me. I slowly turned away from the back door and faced him noticing how fast he had crossed from his patio to standing at the bottom of mine.

"Heyyyy Dimitriiii…. Why are you still up?" He just looked at me with a very cold stare.

"I should be the one asking you that." He walked up the five steps that were in between us coming closer. "Have you been drinking Rose?" I had in fact been drinking and was slightly drunk, but I said nothing. He just shook his head at my silence. "You're only 17 Rose." This was a part of Dimitri I had never seen before either and I didn't like it. Normally I didn't care what people thought of me. As long as they didn't think I was some easy slut, I didn't give a fuck. But with Dimitri it was different.

For some reason I wanted him to only think the best of me, and I had no idea why considering he barley talked to me. So I responded defensively. "What are you my dad?"

He sighed and shook his head again. "I just don't want you to be out there getting drunk and doing Lord knows what with those guys you always hang out with." His Russian accent got thicker with each word, his jaws clenched, and his eyes darkened with… jealousy? No, that couldn't have been it.

I couldn't help but notice how sexy he was angry, or how delicious his lips looked. It took me a moment to realize he was implying that I was one of those girls that got drunk and slept with the first guy who asked. I was so pissed off that my buzz instantly went away and I sobered up. I looked him squarely in the eye and slapped him with strength I didn't even know I had. His eyes widen with surprise. I turned on my heels then slipped inside the house. I hadn't spoken to him since.

Suddenly I felt like someone was watching me. I snapped out of my haze and saw Dimitri staring right at me. I blushed, much to my dismay, when I realized that I had been staring at him while I recalled those memories. He looked at me expectantly like he thought I might say something to him. I kind of did want to tell him sorry for slapping him. Instead I turned to the right and went into Lissa's house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Like I mentioned before, Lissa and I are very close, so when I walked in unannounced, no one was shocked to see me.

"Hello Rose" Lissa's mom greeted.

"Hey Mrs. D. Mr. D." I said nodding to Lissa's parents. Lissa's father waved a hand at me, but continued to watch the news.

Lissa's brother Andre walked out from the hallway.

"Trouble." He said using his nickname he gave me a few years ago because I was always in trouble. He ruffled my hair and headed up to his room I assumed.

"Lissa in her room?" I asked.

"MM HM." Her mother replied, her attention occupied by a news report on our bitch of a queen.

I took the steps two at a time until I got to the top of the stairs.

Lissa's house was setup exactly like mine. When you got to the top of the stairs you could either go right and turn left to get to the rooms or you could go left and turn right to get to the rooms. Both sides of the house each had one bathroom and three bedrooms with the master bedroom at the end of each hall. Each master bedroom had its own bathroom. Next to the master bedroom on the right side of the house was a stairway that led to the kitchen and next to the master bedroom on the left was a stairway that led to the den. The other four bedrooms were big enough that you could fit a queen sized bed in them and still have enough room to do flips and cartwheels.

At my house I had a hallway all to myself and Christian got the bedroom next to our parents. Neither one of us could get the second master bedroom because Abe and Janine didn't want us to argue over it. I didn't really mind, but Christian bitched about it once a week. I kind of liked my room because sometimes when I looked out my window that faced Dimitri's house I could see him in his workout room lifting weights, and he always worked out with his shirt off. Though, I would never admit that to anyone other than Lissa.

Once i reached the top of the staircase, I went left and headed to Lissa's room.

Her door was slightly cracked and I could hear Beyonce's and Shakira's song, beautiful liar, playing. I slowly pushed the door open and silently laughed to myself.

When Lissa and I were at the party Dimitri caught me sneaking back from, Lissa was upset because some guy made a comment about her looking like a stick next to me. I hated seeing my best friend sad because she felt inferior to me so I suggested she try belly dancing to help her get some kind of curves. So she looked up how to belly dance on YouTube and every since then she's been practicing every night.

As I watched her now, I had to admit that she was getting a whole lot better than she was when she first started, but it was still funny to watch. She was trying to imitate the hip movements Shakira and Beyonce did in the video. I watched her for a few more moments then I laughed out loud. Startled she turned around.

"Oh my fucking gosh Rose! You scared me!" She had her hand over her heart and she was breathing heavily. The sight only caused me to laugh harder while she glared at me. "Well it's nice to know that I at least have your support in this." She angrily said.

I stopped laughing finally. "Aww Liss, don't be mad. I support you 100% on this. You've gotten way better since you've started." I said trying to make her feel better. It worked because her scowl was replaced by a smile Ronald McDonald worthy.

"You really think so?" she asked. I nodded me head eagerly, happy that she was happy. "I've been practicing a lot. So what's up?" She asked, grabbing a water bottle out of her mini fridge.

"Well, Dimitri just caught me staring at him. That was slightly embarrassing." I admitted.

"You guys haven't talked since you slapped him?" Lissa asked just as Andre walked by.

"Whoa Trouble! You slapped Belikov?" he asked "What'd he do to deserve the wrath of Rose Hathaway?"

I shook my head. I didn't really want everyone knowing that I slapped Dimitri because of course they would take his side. Lissa, knowing that I didn't want people to know about the incident, walked over to the door and slammed it in Andre's face. I gave her a slight smile and continued.

"I was going to before I came over here, but I shouldn't be the one to apologize first. He insulted me!"

"That is so true. I can't believe he would say something like that." Lissa said for the hundredth time since I had told her about the incident. "Usually he's always so nice; well unless he's over here drinking a beer with Andre and their friends and they're joking around and laughing at eachother."

Joking? Laughing? "Wait! Dimitri knows how to laugh?" I exclaimed.

"Well duh Rose he laughs. He's not some robot." She looked at me sideways.

"I don't know. I just can't see it. He's always so formal around me, and polite."

Lissa shrugged and started twirling her hips to the next song that came on. "I don't know either. He's always talking when he hangs out around here. Maybe it's because Andre is 21 so him, Dimitri, and their friends have more to talk about then you and Dimitri would considering you just turned 17."

I shrugged as well. That did make a lot of sense.

Forgetting about Dimitri I moved on to the main reason I came over here. "So why didn't you warn me that my parents were sending me to St. Vladimir?" I asked her half shouting it.

She turned around again, "They finally told you? Your mom begged me not to tell. She said she wanted to tell you first."

"How much did she pay you to keep quiet?"

Lissa's eyes widened, "Why in the world would I take money from your mother?"

I snorted, "Oh yea, I forget you like to do things out of the kindness of your heart."

She laughed, "You should try it sometimes. It's really not that bad."

"Hey! I do nice things all the time!"

""Like what?" She asked giving me a pointed look.

"Well, um. Well, you know." I stumbled over my words trying to think of something I did nice without expecting anything in return. She laughed and I moved on. "Anyways, I'm so glad that you're coming with me! You didn't have to do that you know. You could still stay at Hornet High and rule there." I didn't want Lissa to miss out on her last year with all of our friends just because of me.

"I can't believe you would say that!" She exclaimed. "It wouldn't even be the same without my best friend Rose! Where ever you are I'll be there too."

"Aww Liss I love you!" I said.

"I love you too rose. And besides I think it would be cool to learn how to use my spirit correctly. Hey!" She exclaimed moving on to a new subject, "Jeremy is throwing a party this weekend and I think we should totally go and have fun before we start at the new school."

As soon as she said Jeremy and party, I didn't even have to hear the rest. Jeremy was another popular at Hornet High and he always threw the best parties. "Of course I'm in!"

"Great and I was thinking Friday after school, we should go to the mall and buy some new clothes for St. Vladimir…"

"Yea, we'll definitely be the two hottest bitches at that school!"

"Yay!" She exclaimed. "I'm so excited now. I can't wait!"

I could feel excitement pouring out through our mysterious bond and I started getting excited as well.

"Ok now practice this dance with me." She demanded. I got up and threw away my now browned and bruised banana, having forgotten about it, and spent the next two hours dancing with Lissa.


End file.
